Technical processes or technical objects are mostly illustrated in the form of technical drawings, flowcharts and so forth. To take account of the three-dimensionality of the objects or to present the given processes comprehensively, a number of presentations are selected as a rule. Different views are frequently selected for objects, for example a perspective view, a side view, or a view of the object from above or prepared sections along predetermined lines. With processes, which means working or manufacturing procedures, presentations at a number of levels of abstraction are mostly required. Thus a first presentation can be selected to display the entire process, for example in the form of a flowchart. A second presentation can represent a sub process, which for example is an individual processing step in the overall process, and which corresponds to an element in the flowchart.
Since the screen display is limited it is mostly necessary to switch between these views when creating the different presentations. In this case graphical editors are used with which different views can be shown in resizable windows. Selecting the corresponding entries in drop-down menus of the relevant editor selects the views, moves windows into the foreground and sets their size.
Tooltips are generally known for graphical user interfaces, such as those of the Windows® or Macintosh® operating system. If a mouse pointer remains for a predetermined time over a predetermined part of the screen area, a display area appears which provides explanatory information about a program function. It is thus known for programs to have various buttons which are provided with a pictogram. If the mouse pointer dwells sufficiently long over such a pictogram, the given display area appears and clarifies or explains the program function that can be selected by clicking the button.
Application U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,101 discloses a tooltip for which the degree of execution capability increases over time. If the mouse point only remains for a short time in the said predetermined part of the screen area, i.e. in the catch area, the program function is explained in just a few words. If the mouse pointer remains in the catch area for a longer period, a second tooltip appears with a longer explanatory text. If the mouse pointer remains in the catch area for even longer, a tooltip which uses an image or a video to give a detailed explanation of the functions of the button appears.